Hot stock: Rickmers Maritime soars more than 30%, prompting SGX query

SHARES of Rickmers Maritime soared more than 30 per cent in heavy trade on Monday morning, prompting Singapore Exchange (SGX) to query the trust on its "unusual" trading activity.

Rickmers Maritime - a Singapore business trust which owns and operates containerships mainly under long-term fixed-rate time charters - saw its units climb 31 per cent in early Monday trade to S$0.109 each, compared to its close at S$0.083 on Friday.

The units eventually closed S$0.03 or 36 per cent higher at S$0.113 each, with some 105 million units changing hands.

In February, Soeren Andersen, chief executive officer of its trustee-manager, had bought 130,000 units at S$0.053 each.

The trust had reported a net loss of US$129.6 million for the three months ended Dec 31, 2015, compared with a net profit of US$11.2 million a year earlier. This was due to non-cash impairment charges of US$128.4 million in the light of the depressed charter market.